Horse hoof thrush

My horse has a mild case of thrush in his hooves. Can I use Battles iodine solution directly on the frog tissue and will 7% iodine be strong enough? Thank you.

John Cousins BVSc MRCVS

Non-Executive Director

The answer to both questions is yes, though this product is normally diluted in water to produce a larger volume of liquid to scrub into the tissues with a coarse brush. It is very important to clean the hooves out and get rid of as much dirt and mud as possible twice per day, then to scrub iodine into all the tiny cracks and fissures of the hoof. The iodine does not need to be very concentrated, as long as it gets to the effected area without any dirt present.

My bearded dragons have mites

25th Feb 2016

Toni

Someone has told me the best way to clear the mites from my bearded dragons is to bath them in betadine then spray them with frontline would this work can you please help advice me.

John Cousins BVSc MRCVS

Non-Executive Director

Betadine is a good, safe antiseptic for use on the skin. It helps to stop bacterial and fungal infections, though it will not kill mites. Frontline spray is often used to kill surface-living mites and is probably going to be effective in this case. Your advice sounds reasonable on the whole. Betadine is normally only needed on sore patches of skin, not the whole body. Frontline is potentially toxic if you put loads on, so you should weigh the dragon and use the amount appropriate for that. Your own vet can advise you and will need to prescribe the Frontline spray as it is prescription-only.